When we think of evolution, we usually think of slow, gradual changes that occur over thousands or millions of years. However, this isn’t always the case: sometimes evolution can produce fast results! Take the coat color of the gray squirrel, who resides mostly in the eastern U.S., for example–nowadays, most are gray in color, but even just two centuries ago, most were black! What has prompted this change in color, and how did it happen so quickly?

All that separates gray and black squirrels is one tiny genetic difference: a piece of DNA that controls how much pigment is added to their fur. So how would natural selection favor the gray squirrels, which contain two complete copies of the “pigment” gene? One theory is that most of the forests in North America used to be “old growth,” with several layers of tree cover, which created dark shadows on the forest floor. This favored darker squirrels, because they could hide from predators. However, modern North American forests have been thinned by the lumber industry, and “new growth,” with more spindly tree trunks, create less shade, so perhaps black-furred squirrels stand out more than gray. Black squirrels actually tend to be more proliferous in urban environments, where building shadows mimic sort of an “old growth” forest landscape.

What SquirrelMapper aims to do is get citizen scientists involved in gathering and submitting data on where they are sighting squirrels of different coats. The process for adding your data is very simple:

Search for squirrels in your neighborhood, or just keep the recording sheet in your car or another easily-accessible spot, so you can jot down notes when you run across a little critter during your everyday activities.

Easy as that! If you don’t have internet access, you can also mail your records to:

Dr. Gibbs

Illick Hall

SUNY-ESF

Syracuse, NY 13210

You can also contribute by measuring whether the squirrels’ camouflage actually provides them with a selective advantage in different visual environments in the project’s “squirrel hunt” exercise.

You can view an interactive map of all of the submitted squirrel sightings here, including some cool pie charts of what kinds of squirrels have been sighted in different regions of the country–I couldn’t believe the difference between the east and west coast! However, the more data that is included in the project, the more accurate the results, so get involved and share your own observations!

Much like frogs, salamander populations throughout the world have been in steady decline in recent decades. Though Woodland Salamanders are the most abundant vertebrate species in the Northeastern US, they are threatened by a number of human-made calamities, particularly climate change. Because salamanders have thin, permeable skin, they are especially susceptible to weather extremes. They also don’t migrate, which means that when a hard winter or hot summer hits, they don’t move north or south–they are right in your backyard year-round!

While that may mean life is a little tougher for the poor salamanders, they have created some amazing adaptations to help them cope with these changes–and scientists at SPARC-net are working to understand, more fully, how this process works. They need you to help them by documenting salamander populations in your community, and providing scientists with valuable data that can help them create a bigger-picture plan to protect these amphibious populations.

SPARC-net, or the Salamander Population Adaptation Research Collaboration Network, is an organization of researchers and educators working together to understand the effects of climate change and land use on salamanders. According to their website:

“We envision this approach being mutually beneficial for educators who teach about science, wildlife and environmental concerns as well as researchers interested in collecting data at large spatial extents. This type of approach requires infrastructure, time and strong collaboration. We believe the scientific and educational rewards and benefits are worth the effort.”

An added bonus of involving educators in the process is creating a new generation of environmental stewards who understand their impact on their surroundings! If you are an educator would like more information about including climate change and salamander ecology in your curriculum, please contact Sean Sterrett at seansterrett@gmail.com. SPARC-net coordinators want to work with you to develop resources and lesson materials that will fit the needs of your classroom, which seems like an amazing opportunity for kids to get some really tailored, hands-on learning!

Not a classroom teacher? No problem, there are still plenty of ways to get involved! As with many citizen science projects, researchers rely on volunteers to do a lot of the legwork of data collection (which is costly to fund and difficult to organize on a large scale). Since they are found all over the world, it’s very likely that you live among a little salamander metropolis and don’t even realize it! Here is more information on how to record data on salamanders that you encounter in your own community. If you happen to be planning a hike, camping trip, or even a day at the park, take along a data sheet and help SPARC-net scientists create a more complete understanding of salamander adaptation!

The changing of the seasons has a somewhat romanticized connotation (I mean, who doesn’t love cuddling up with some apple cider in the fall, or breaking out their sandals on the first warm day of spring?), but from a biological point of view, the timing of these natural cycles is extremely significant. The study of the timing of seasonal changes in plants is called phenology, and it can tell us a lot about climate change and weather patterns. Ultimately, scientists hope to use data relating to phenology to produce forecasts that would be useful for conservation, tourism, agriculture, and public health.

Though data collection in the field of phenology isn’t too complex (observers simply note the flowering, leafing, and fruiting of trees, shrubs, and plants), in the past it’s been somewhat constrained by the physical and time limitations of researchers–humans can only reach certain locations, at certain times of day, with relative infrequency. Thankfully modern technology has produced cameras that can be placed in a large variety of locations–some rather more remote than research teams could regularly access–and can be programed to take pictures as frequently as needed to see when plants around the world are showing signs of seasonal change.

However, while technology can be harnessed for amazing tasks in the scientific world, sometimes there’s no substitute for a pair of human eyes. But where are researchers supposed to get the manpower needed to sort through and classify the hundreds of thousands of images taken by these cameras? That’s a questions that a team of scientists and educators at Harvard University and at the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) have answered with Season Spotter.

Season Spotter is an extremely simple concept, and very user-friendly. In fact, of all of the citizen science websites and programs I’ve tried out, this may be one of the quickest to get the hang of! You simply choose a challenge to work on (they usually have a few options up, such as the “fall challenge,” running now), and the site offers you a photo of a landscape. There will be a few questions about each picture: “can you see flowers on the shrubs?,” “are there any animals in the photo?,” etc. You answer a few questions about each photo, submit, and that’s that! Then researchers can use the data you submit to classify the photo and study where and when plants are in bloom around the world. You do not have to create an account or log into the site, but it’s encouraged so they can give you credit for your contributions (this also helps program coordinators track who’s using the site, etc.).

You can hop on Season Spotter for five minutes and classify one or two photos, or log on for an hour or two at a time. The simplicity and accessibility of the project makes it a great choice if you’re looking for a way to get involved in some meaningful citizen science, but don’t have a ton of time to devote to training and participation each week. If you’d like more information about the project, or to get in touch with program coordinators, you can find their contact information here.

Here on Citizen Science Center, we share a lot of opportunities to participate in projects within your own community–sometimes even from the comfort of your own home. While that’s obviously optimal on a day-to-day basis, what if you had a chance to collect critically important data from onboard a yacht, while sailing between Thailand and Singapore. Seems pretty appealing, right?

That’s just opportunity Indigo V Expeditions aims to give “citizen oceanographers” with their Indian Ocean II Expedition. Indigo Expeditions first set sail in 2013, hoping to answer the question, “Can sailors contribute to oceanography in a meaningful way?” You see, the globe’s oceans are under considerable stress. In the last 50 years, we’ve seen declines in numbers of big fish, coral reefs, and other visible and easily measurable forms of marine life. However, what’s more difficult to detect are microbe levels. While invisible, microbes comprise of 90% of the ocean’s biomass. They are the baseline of the food chain, as well as a major stabilizer of atmospheric levels of oxygen. Scientists need to gather enormous amounts of data to determine well-being of the ocean’s microbial systems, and create a plan of attack for preserving ones that show signs of decline.

While their importance really can’t be overstated, sending out a traditional research vessel to measure microbes is extremely expensive. According to Indigo’s site, it would cost at least $15 million a year for the crew, ship, and analysis of data collected. And in a year, one vessel could only cover about 3% of the ocean’s surface! Needless to say, a more cost-effective and efficient system of microbe measurement is needed.

The OSMO (Ocean Sailing Microbiome Observatory) autosampler may be the answer here. This groundbreaking, autonomous instrument clamps onto the stern of a vessel, taking DNA samples of microbes found in the water. Since thousands of already-manned vessels cruise the world’s oceans regularly for both business and pleasure, harnessing their power to collect data could cut research costs drastically.

The OSMO still needs some field testing, however, so the Indian Ocean II Expedition offers interested citizen scientists an opportunity to actually set sail on a Nautor Swan 61 yacht. You’ll be taking samples, conducting studies, trying your hand at sailing techniques, and visiting some truly spectacular parts of the world such as Indonesia and Maldives. There are various legs of the expedition running from spring to autumn, so if you’re interested in booking a spot on the Indigo V cruise, please contact rachelle@indigovexpeditions.com. You can also contact Rachelle if you’re a vessel owner interested in more information about obtaining access to an OSMO to use on your own independent excursions.

Sailing off into the sunset, while collecting data that could preserve the ocean’s bedrock infrastructure–sounds like a win-win!